New Game Plus
by ZaneDS
Summary: Join Luke fon Fabre as he is thrust back into the journey that made him a hero.  While he knows every twist and turn that is to come, can he do anything to stop the cataclysmic events that are about to transpire?
1. Chapter 1

"…and also, I promised someone."

Luke could only smile as his friends reacted, all but Jade rushing to his side.

And then, nothingness. He blinked a few times, then looked around, unable to see anything other than a large, white void.

"Welcome to my shop, traveller," a voice squeaked out from behind him. Luke spun around, and gripped the hilt of the Key in his hand. A small Katz sat before him, leaning forward against what seemed to be a lemonade stand, chin cupped in his paw. "You've had quite the journey to make it here, huh? Only true heroes can make it to this place."

(What's this runt going on about?) Asch's voice echoed in Luke's head. Even though it was just his voice, Luke could imagine his original's frown and glare as he continued, (And where the hell are we, anyway?)

"My shop, as I said," the Katz replied. "Yes, I can hear you in this place, boy. Don't look so surprised."

"How did you hear him, uh…?" Luke asked.

"Katzby," the Katz replied. "And that doesn't really matter, now does it? Now listen up, because I don't like giving explanations and I really don't like window shoppers." Katzby spent a moment rummaging underneath his stand before presenting a ring to Luke. "Firstly, you will be needing this."

"What is it?" Luke asked as he took the ring and examined it. It looked just like the Sorceror's Ring, but it had a blue gem laid into it.

"It'll allow you to somewhat alter the reality of your adventure," Katzby said with a smile. "Now then, I've calculated the amount of Grade you've accumulated, and went ahead and picked some of the options for you."

"Why don't I get to pick them?" Luke asked.

"Because it's written in Ancient Ispanian," Katzy replied. "See you next playthrough, kiddo." Before Luke could say anything, Katzby snapped his fingers, and the ground beneath Luke vanished. "Poor schmuck," he chuckled as Luke's yells grew faint, and then disappeared altogether.

-== Capital of Light, Baticul==-

(Get the hell up, replica!) Asch's voice bellowed in his mind.

Luke groaned and placed a hand over his throbbing forehead. "What…what happened?"

(You fell and smacked your head into that shelf,) Asch answered. (Now get up and find out where the hell we are!)

"What do you care, anyway?" Luke asked as he pulled himself to his feet. As he glanced around his new surroundings, he quickly recognized it as his old room from the mansion. "What the…? How did I get back here?" Looking down, he realized that he was wearing his old outfit as well. "Ok, this is weird…"

(Will you stop talking to yourself?) Asch said angrily. (If we're back at the manor, go see if anything's changed.)

"You don't have to be so angry all the time, you know," Luke stated, annoyed, as he took a seat on his bed. "If you're sharing brainspace with me, then you can at least stop being so damn annoying."

"Luke, don't tell me you've started replying to those weird voices now," a very familiar voice called from near the window. Luke looked up and saw Guy glancing over at him, a worried look on his face.

"Guy? You're here, too?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Luke replied. He noticed that Guy was wearing his old uniform from his servant days at the manor, not the clothes he had donned when they met back up at Tataroo Valley.

Two quick knocks on his door interrupted the two friends. "Master Luke, may I come in?" a maid questioned from the other side of the door.

"Uh-oh. I can't let anyone see me here," Guy said quietly as he climbed up onto the windowsill. "I'm out of here before I get caught. See you."

Luke frowned as Guy jumped from the window. "This exact thing happened before…" he muttered.

"Master Luke?" the maid repeated.

"Come in," he replied hesitantly.

The maid entered, and, after bowing her head slightly to the young noble, said, "His Grace requests your presence in the drawing room."

Luke's frown intensified at the maid's words. "Thanks," he said quietly, cupping his chin in one hand as he tried to remember what would happen next. "You can go," he said as an afterthought.

(Stop dawdling,) Asch said.

"You don't understand," Luke stated after the maid left. "All of this happened before I left the mansion with Tear."

(What are you saying?)

"If I'm right, then father is meeting with M- Van right now," Luke stated before gripping the doorknob in hand and opening the door.

Inside the drawing room, Luke's assumptions were verified. Duke Fabre and Van were deep in discussion. Luke felt his hand instinctively grab for his sword, and frowned when it gripped the hilt of his old practice sword.

(Replica, what is he doing here?) Asch demanded.

"It's like I thought," Luke replied quietly. "After this meeting, Van and I will move out into the courtyard and be attacked by Tear."

(Are you saying we've gone back in time?) Asch questioned. (If that's the case, kill him! You're more than capable if you get him in an ambush.)

"And then what? Get charged with murder by Uncle and Daath?" Luke asked as he shook his head. He crossed the room and took the seat next to Van, just as he had the first time. The meeting took place as he remembered, and the two moved to the courtyard for their practice match.

Luke noticed the odd looks Van was giving him, no doubt about how much he had improved in swordplay since the last time.

(Why aren't you stabbing him, Replica?) Asch yelled.

"With a wooden sword, are you serious?" he retorted under his breath. "Just shut up, Tear will be here at any moment."

And, just as he finished uttering the words, the familiar tune of Tear's Fonic Hymn reached his ears. He couldn't help but smile as his legs gave out beneath him. Though he would rather not have Tear go through the trauma of murdering her own brother alone, there was just no other way to undo all of the crimes Van had committed.

Unfortunately for Luke, Van raised his sword to block Tear's attack, and, with all the effort he could muster, swung his sword and flung Tear across the courtyard.

Right into Luke. Cue hyperressonance and teleportation.


	2. Chapter 2

-==Tataroo Valley==-

(Wake up, loser. You're girlfriend won't shut up.)

"She's not my girlfriend," Luke said as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"What?" the all too familiar voice of Tear questioned.

Luke's eyes shot open, and locked onto the visible eye of the Locrian Sergeant. "Nothing!" he said, pushing himself to his feet and spinning around as blood rushed to his cheeks. His mind raced, thoughts of Tear as well and of what would be happening next vying for his attention.

(Smooth,) Asch chuckled. Then, as an afterthought, added, (Loser.)

"Shut up," Luke muttered. "Hey, T-uh…you," he corrected himself, realizing that he wouldn't have known her name yet, "what happened back at the manor?"

"My name's Tear," she replied with a glare, "and as for the incident at the manor, it seems as though a hyperresonance occurred between us."

"You don't say," Luke said absentmindedly as he gripped the hilt of his practice sword.

"I was surprised," she continued, not noticing his motion. "For a moment, I thought we'd been caught in the Planet Storm."

Luke pondered for a moment whether to act as clueless as he had been the first time through the valley, but decided that the act would be unnecessary, and it would also save time on boring explanations.

"We should get going," she said after a few moments of silence. "Monsters are more active at night, and we're not very prepared to be on our own."

Luke nodded and unsheathed his sword. "Speaking of monsters," he said, as the tall grass around the two rustle. Three Filifolia leapt from the grass, and were quickly met with a very blunt piece of wood cracking into their leafy heads.

"Behind you!" Tear called out from her casting position.

Luke spun around and swung his sword, though the wooden blade did very little to harm the Rhinossus that had charged him. He clenched his teeth and braced the wooden sword with his other hand, digging his heels into the ground to attempt to stop the monster from trampling him.

"Thou who wouldst take revenge, carve here thy holy seal!" Tear chanted. "Eclair de Larmes!"

Luke grinned and rolled to the side as a large glyph appeared beneath the Rhinossus. Light shot upward, tearing through the beast's thick hide, and it slumped to the ground as the spell's light faded. Luke sheathed his sword and turned to Tear with a smile. "Thanks for the save." Tear merely nodded before bowing her head in thought. "Something wrong?"

"That's the first time I've ever used that spell," Tear stated, and raised her head to meet Luke's gaze. "It's odd…it just felt very familiar."

(So, what, the others don't know anything about the events that are going to happen, but they remember their advanced attacks and such?) Asch asked. (That's dumb.)

"It'll be helpful when we start running into you and the God Generals, though," Luke muttered with a small grin.

(Screw you.)

"We can continue when you're done talking to yourself," Tear stated, giving Luke an odd look.

Luke nodded, and the two continued towards the valley's entrance, and Luke smiled when he noticed the coachman filling up his bucked at the river. The driver jumped as he heard the two approach, nearly dropping his bucket as he exclaimed, "Wh-who are you? Are you with the Dark Wings?"

"The Dark Wings?" Tear asked, arching an eyebrow and folding her arms across her chest at the man's comment.

"They're bandits," he replied. He relaxed a little bit as his gaze switched back and forth between Luke and Tear. "I guess not, if there's only the two of you. The Dark Wings are a group of two men and a woman."

"We're just two lost travelers," Luke replied quickly. "We were on our way to the capital before we lost our way and wound up in the valley. What are you doing here?"

"I'm a coachman," he answered. "We lost some water due to a problematic wheel, and I came here to refill our supplies."

"Do you travel to the capital?" Tear asked.

"Yeah, it's my last stop," the coachman said.

Luke crossed his arms while he thought over the events that would be coming.

(He means Grand Chokmah, right?) Asch asked.

"Yeah," Luke muttered. "If we take the coach, we'll be trapped in Malkuth until we meet up with Van at Kaitzur…"

(Then don't take it.)

"But if we don't, we'll never meet up with Jade and Ion." Luke sighed audibly. "Not to mention what would happen if we weren't there to stop the Liger Queen's eggs from hatching."

"Why do you keep muttering to yourself?" Tear asked as she poked him lightly on the arm.

Without a valid reason that anyone else would understand, Luke frowned and said, "Because shut up." Though he disliked reverting back into his old attitude, there were times the jerkass nature just made things easier. "So how much is it to the capital?"

"12,000 gald a person," the coachman answered.

Luke nodded and reached for the group wallet. He reached into the wallet and pulled out the amount, and then handed to the coachman. "That should be enough."

"All right, then," he said as he pocketed the money. "I parked the coach further out of the valley. Follow me."

Luke smiled as they began following him, knowing that Tear keeping her pendant would be far more useful than a small amount of Gald just sitting around.

Luke awoke the next morning to the sound of cannon fire. He peered out of the coach's window to see the Tartarus chasing after the Dark Wings' buggy. "Cool," he said as he dug through the item bag to retrieve his journal. He started jotting down a few notes about the night before, but stopped midsentence. He already knew what would happen, and even then, he only kept a record of events before in case he was struck with the mysterious case of amnesia that he turned out to never have in the first place.

He shook the thoughts out of his head as the coach swerved out of the landship's way.

"That's Malkuth's newest land dreadnaught, the Tartarus," the driver called back as he stopped the coach.

"Oh no," Luke said in a forced monotone. "What's the Malkuth military doing around here?"

The driver stopped and turned to look at them. "What do you mean? There's been no end to the rumors of Kimlasca preparing to declare war for some time now," he said, giving his two passengers a questioning look. "You two aren't Kimlascan, are you?"

"No, we're not," Tear answered. "We had business in Kimlasca, is all. When you said you were going to the capital, we thought you meant Baticul."

"Oh, well that's too bad," he said. "You should've gone south instead of crossing the bridge. Not that it makes much difference now, with the bridge destroyed."

Luke sighed quietly and folded his arms across his chest. "Man, knowing everything that's gonna happen makes bits like this boring," he mumbled.

"I'm passing by Engeve on the way to Grand Chokmah," he continued. "Do you two want me to drop you off there?"

"We don't really have much of a choice," Tear stated. "Going all the way to Grand Chokmah would only put us further away from where we need to go."

(You don't say…) Asch quipped. (Seriously, what do you see in this chick?)

"Shut up."


	3. Chapter 3

-==The Grocer's Hamlet, Engeve==-

"You can't be serious," Tear stated, shaking her head at her companion.

"I'm very serious," Luke replied. "Nobody's going to be intimidated be a healer, even if you are a trained soldier. But if you rode into battle on the back of a bear or a dragon or something, we wouldn't have to worry about covering you while you cast."

"And how exactly do you plan to tame these monsters?" Tear asked. "Are you going to negotiate with them? Because if you can speak monster, I'd love for you to tell them to quit attacking people."

"You're such a killjoy, you know that?" Luke said. "Whatever, let's just get to the inn."

The two entered the village in silence and headed for the inn, but were blocked by a small group of villagers standing in front of the building. "Hey, could you guys move?" Luke asked as snobbishly as he could. A few of the people mumbled short apologies as they shuffled out of the way, but Luke noticed a few suspicious glances cast in their direction. Luke frowned as he and Tear walked ahead, and a small grin formed on his face. "Jeez, you guys act like you were just robbed or something…" he commented loudly.

A few seconds passed before one of the men grabbed him roughly by his collar. "Awfully aware of our situation, aren't you?" the man said, lifting Luke by his shirt and turning him so that they were eye-to-eye.

"No clue what you're talking about," Luke replied with a smile.

"That's it, I'm taking you to Rose," the man stated, walking away from the inn with Luke in tow.

Tear followed without a word, but looked very confused at the turnout.

The door to Rose's house opened, and Luke was all but thrown into the building, landing ungracefully on his stomach. "Rose, I think we've found our culprit," the man stated as he entered.

"Hush!" Rose said loudly, crossing the room to meet the growing crowd. "We've got an important guest from the military here. Calm down!"

"How can we be calm?" the man retorted, lifting Luke by his shirt once again. "We caught him! The one that's been stealing our food!"

"It wasn't me, rappig breath," Luke stated, shocking himself with his own jerkassery.

"He might be with the Dark Wings, Rose!" a man from the crowd added, ignoring the young noble.

"I said it wasn't me!" Luke said loudly, smacking the man's hand away from him and landing on his feet. "Seriously, does it look like I'm having trouble feeding myself?"

"Such a lively boy," Rose chuckled. "Let's all settle down and sort this out, all right?"

"Yes, let's," the snide voice of Jade crept into Luke's ear.

"Seriously, this guy chased the Dark Wings to the other side of the bridge," Luke said, jerking a thumb towards the colonel. "We were in that coach earlier. Tell them."

"Ah, so you were there, too," Jade stated, readjusting his glasses. "And you are?"

"Luke," the redhead answered. "And she's Tear. We're…travelling together."

"Is that so," Jade said. "It's as he says, Rose. These two are not with the Dark Wings."

"They don't seem to be the food thieves, either," an effeminate voice stated from the doorway.

"Fon Master," Jade said.

Everyone parted for the leader of the Order to enter. "I was curious, so I investigated the storehouse, and I found this." He walked further into 6he room and held his hand out to Rose, clutching a small tuft of fur.

"This is fur from a sacred cheagle," Rose stated quietly, a worried look crossing her face.

"I would say that a cheagle is what raided your food stores," Ion said.

"Where's my apology?" Luke said with a grin, turning to face the man that carried him in.

"Sorry," the man mumbled.

"It's not his fault that you said something suspicious," Tear stated.

"Nobody asked you," Luke said.

(Since when are you such an asshole?) Asch asked.

"Since shut up," Luke mumbled, gathering odd looks from the group surrounding him. "With that out of the way, we're going back to the inn. Let's go, Tear."

"Sorry for the bother," Tear stated as she followed him.

Once they got back to the inn, Luke turned to Tear. "Hey, we're going to go track down some cheagles tomorrow to further prove my innocence," he stated.

"You can't be serious."

-==Cheagle Woods==-

The next morning came all too quickly for Tear, and she now found herself matching Luke's fervent pace a few feet behind him. "Why are we here again?" she asked, grasping her staff tightly in her hand.

"We're here to drag the cheagles back to Engeve," Luke replied.

"But they already know you didn't do it," she stated.

"Don't care," he said. "Hey, what's going on over there?" He pointed ahead towards a clearing, where a pack of wolves had surrounded a particularly frail Fon Master.

"It's Ion!" Tear said, and rushed past him. He gripped the hilt of his sword and followed after her, but the pair stopped when Ion and the wolves were briefly enveloped in a bright flash of light. When they could see again, Ion was alone, and he all but collapsed on the ground.

The two rushed over to him, and Luke helped pull the Fon Master to his feet. "You okay?" he asked as Ion tried to gain control of his balance.

"Yes, I'm fine," Ion replied. "I just used too powerful of a Daathic Fonic Arte." He took a moment to look between the two, and recognized them quickly. "You two were at Rose's yesterday. What brings you here?"

"This idiot wants to drag the cheagles back to Engeve," Tear said. "Why are you here by yourself, Fon Master?"

"Cheagles are sacred animals in the Order," Ion said. "If they're stealing from humans, then something must be wrong.

"Then stick with us," Luke said with a grin. "And leave the fighting to us, ok?"

"Thank you, um…" Ion started, before realizing he didn't know either of their names.

"I'm Luke."

"Luke," Ion repeated. "That means 'light of the sacred flame' in Ancient Ispanian. That's a nice name."

"I'm Locrian Sergeant Tear Grants," Tear stated. "1st platoon, Oracle Knights Intelligence Division, under Grand Maestro Mohs' command."

"Ah, you're Van's younger sister," Ion said.

"All right, let's get going," Luke said before his two companions could keep talking, and jogged off towards the large, central tree that he knew the cheagles called home. The three of them walked in silence for a while, with a few instances of Luke and Tear quickly dispatching small groups of monsters, and eventually the group stopped outside a large tree. "Hey, check it out," Luke said and picked an apple off the ground.

"That has the seal of Engeve on it," Ion stated. "That means the cheagles really are stealing from them."

"All right, let's drag those dirty little beasts back to Engeve," Luke said. He smiled and cracked his knuckles before entering the large tree.

As he entered, Luke was assaulted by both a very high-pitched, "MIIIEEEEUUUUUU!" and a cheagle locking his face in a tiny, furry death hug. Luke grabbed the creature by its round head and pried it from his face, and quickly recognized it as Mieu.

A large group of cheagles gathered before Luke, shouting at him in their high-pitched monster language, but were quieted by the elder as it stepped forward, holding the Sorcerer's Ring tightly.


	4. Chapter 4

-==Northern Cheagle Woods==-

Luke huffed and wiped a line of sweat from his brow, then turned back and looked for Tear and Ion, who were trudging after him slowly. The opening to the Liger Queen's lair laid before him, and he swallowed nervously. The last time he was here, he and Tear almost died, living only because of Jade's interference. He had noticed earlier that his strength had diminished greatly, even though he had retained all knowledge of his artes, and he reasoned that he was as strong as he had been during his first visit to the woods.

"Master, can we talk real quick?" Mieu asked, staring up from the grass in front of Luke.

"What's up?" Luke asked.

"Well, it's just that…hasn't this all happened before?" the cheagle questioned.

"That's right, you kept your memories, too," Luke muttered. "Look, I'm not really sure what happened, but we've been given another chance to prevent the atrocities that Mas-" he paused and shook his head before correcting himself, "-Van and I committed from happening. I won't let what happened to Akzeriuth and all the replicas at the Tower of Rem happen again."

"I'll work hard, too, master!" Mieu exclaimed, hopping up happily.

"Actually, I've been thinking, Mieu," Luke said. "How would you like to start helping in battle?"

"Mieu?" he said, cocking his head to the side.

"All you gotta do is breathe fire when I give the signal," Luke reassured him, grabbing the cheagle by his head and standing up.

"You shouldn't run off ahead, Luke," Tear chastised him as her and Ion caught up to him. "What are you doing with Mieu?" she questioned with a glare.

Luke sighed. "Listen, Tear, just cut it out with the hard-ass soldier girl thing already," he said. "This shit's getting old." Her old soldier ways, the way she treated him before his very important haircut down in the Qliphoth, were really, really annoying and impersonal. Ion knelt down on the ground close-by and caught his breath. "Sorry for snapping like that," Luke mumbled after a moment. Tear frowned, but walked ahead without replying. "Dammit." Luke cupped his face in his free hand, cursing whatever brought him back here.

(What're you crying about, replica?) Asch asked with a fair amount of happiness at Luke's expense. (Anyway, what were you saying about using that thing against monsters?)

"You'll see," Luke replied through clenched teeth.

"Did you say something, Luke?" Ion asked.

"Nothing. Let's go."

Tear looked back as Luke and Ion began descending the hole after her. "Are you done goofing off?" she asked, glaring at Luke.

"Hey, Ion was resting," Luke shot back. "Dammit, you're so annoying!"

"I could say the same to you," Tear stated before walking off.

(Hey, are you regressing?) Asch asked.

"What?" Luke snapped at himself.

(Yeah, you're going back to being the asshole you used to be. What's the deal?)

"I'm just trying to rush things along, and Tear's giving me lip, and Ion's…"

"Yes, Luke?" Ion asked, still right behind him.

"Nothing, Ion," Luke grumbled.

(Heh, everyone's gonna think you're crazy psycho within a week,) Asch laughed.

"Hate you. So very much," he said, storming off after Tear, leaving Ion to trail after him, completely confused.

"Luke, quit carrying Mieu like that," Tear said when they caught up to her.

"Bite me," he said, brushing past her towards the green Memory Circle. After healing, he walked back and passed Tear again, this time into the opening that the Liger Queen had turned into her home. "Hey, stupid liger," he all but yelled as he got closer. The queen raised her head and turned, then roared at Luke and his companions. "Mieu, tell her that if she doesn't pack up and leave I'll bust her with a hyperresonance."

"Mieu mieu!" Mieu cried out from Luke's grip. "Mieu mieu mieu! Mieu mieu!" The queen replied with another massive roar. "She doesn't know what a hyperresonance is, master. Also, she's really, really angry."

"Yeah, yeah, the eggs. Whatever." Luke shook his head angrily. "Tear, get ready. Negotiations have failed. Ion, stand back." Tear nodded and stepped to Luke's side, holding her staff ready while Luke drew his sword, and quickly realized that he hadn't swapped his wooden practice blade for an actual sword back in Engeve. "Aw, crap."

"Luke, here it comes," Tear said, quickly sprinting away to a safer casting position while the liger queen rushed towards him.

"Get ready, Mieu," Luke said, side-stepping a slash from the large liger, and followed with a quick Fang Blade. At the peak of his jump, he tilted Mieu's head down at the queen and yelled, "Now, Mieu!"

Mieu quickly released a small blast of fire from its mouth, and the queen howled loudly in pain. Luke landed and leapt back, smiling as he noticed a red ring of fonons on the ground around the beast.

"O seal of fire," he heard Tear start, "strike down my enemy. Flamme Rouge!"

A ring of fire surrounded the liger queen and burned a glyph into the ground, from which more fire erupted forth. Luke wasted no time in rushing back into the fray, lashing out at the beast with his sword, though the amount of damage he inflicted with it was negligible. The liger queen swatted at him and knocked him back, and then switched her sights to Tear.

"Tear!" Luke cried out as he bounced on the ground and landed back next to Ion. "Mieu, I'm gonna launch you at the liger. Hit it with the biggest blast of fire you can manage."

"Launch?" Mieu repeated hesitantly.

Luke pushed himself up and held Mieu up, concentrating fonons into his right hand. "Raging Blast!" he yelled as he detonated the ball of fonons, sending Mieu flying across the clearing.

Mieu bounced along the back of the liger, and, once on top of her, grabbed onto her fur and let loose a stream of fire. The liger howled in pain again and thrashed about wildly, trying to dislodge the small blue creature that had taken to raining fire upon her fur. Tear took the chance to dash past the frantic beast and headed closer to her red-headed companion before readying her casting stance. Luke became enveloped in a flash of light, and quickly found himself able to stand. "You okay?" Tear asked.

"Yeah, thanks," he replied, turning his attention towards the bucking liger and the flailing cheagle that was still spewing fire from his mouth. "I didn't think that he'd actually be that effective. C'mon, let's go help him."

"I've got a better idea," another voice stated, and the two turned to see Jade, still smiling, walk up to the two. "Tell the cheagle to run. I'll finish the liger."

"Right," Luke said with a nod before rushing towards the liger. "Mieu, disengage! Jade's gonna attack!"

Mieu squeaked and released his grip, and the liger's movements sent him soaring into the air. He landed moments later in Luke's outstretched hands. "Ready for the fireworks?"

"Shouldn't we let her live, though?" Mieu asked. "She's the reason Arietta hated us, right?"

Luke's smile faded as he heard an incantation behind him. "I, who stand in the full light of the heavens, command thee, who opens the gates of hell! Come forth, divine lightning!" Jade's smile turned into a more sinister smirk. "This ends now! Indignation!"

Luke leapt backwards as a massive bolt of lightning shot through the colonel's glyph, incinerating the queen and scorching the ground that she had been standing off. "What the hell was that?" Luke yelled, slumping to his knees in shock.

The only reply was Jade's smug smile and a simple shrug of his shoulders.


	5. Chapter 5

Note from the author:  
>Hey guys, welcome to Chapter 5! Not much to say, except thanks for reading, and please leave a review when you're done. Things will start derailing heavily from the game here, so be prepared for that. Also, this is the longest chapter yet, at over 1700 words, so yay to that. But yeah, please enjoy~<p>

-==The Tartarus==-

(Hey, replica,) Asch said, interrupting Luke's thoughts. Luke was sitting in the room that he and Tear had been taken to after being arrested by Jade's men, taking a moment to sort out his thoughts before the monster attack that was forthcoming. (That attack that the colonel did…Had you ever seen that before?)

"No," Luke replied quietly. "It didn't leave any trace of the Liger Queen behind, just scorched grass. Its power was…awesome…"

"Who are you talking to, Master?" Mieu asked as he hopped up onto the table in front of him.

"Asch is residing in my subconscious," Luke answered, tapping a finger against the side of his head. "He does nothing but whine and complain, though," he added with a chuckle.

(Watch it, replica.)

"Anyways, remember last time we were here, Mieu?" Luke asked. "We're gonna get attacked by the God Generals here, and I want to stop Jade from getting caught in that Fon Slot Seal this time around."

"Don't worry, Master! I'll help however I can!"

"All right, let's go." Luke stood and headed towards the door with Mieu in tow as the Tartarus' alarms blared through the room.

"Are we under attack?" he heard Tear ask as he approached the others.

"Oh, no!" he heard Anise cry as she leapt towards him and clung to him as if her life depended on it. "Luke, what should we do?"

"Get off me," Luke muttered, picking Anise up by her shirt's collar and prying her off of him. He set her back down on her feet as Jade contacted the bridge.

"Bridge! What's going on?" Jade demanded, slightly less calm than normal.

"A large flock of griffins 20 kilometers ahead," came the reply. "Total number unknown. Contact in approximately 10 minutes. Commander, requesting permission to open fire with all cannons."

"You're the captain. The ship is yours," Jade stated.

"Understood, sir. Large swarm of monsters, 20 kilometers ahead! All hands, battle stations!"

"You three, return to your cabins," Jade ordered as he turned.

"No, we'll help," Luke said.

"Your mood swings baffle me, Luke," Jade stated. "But very well. We'll –" Jade was interrupted by a large explosion that rocked the landship. "What's wrong?" he demanded, turning and reopening communications to the bridge.

"Ligers are dropping from the griffins! They're clinging to the hull and attacking! Engineering is –" A loud yell echoed through the hallway before the communication to the bridge was severed.

"Bridge! Respond!" Jade cried out, slamming fist against the metal wall next to him. "Bridge!" When he received no reply, he turned back to face the others.

"A whole horde of ligers," Tear muttered, glancing out a window to her right.

"C'mon, we'll be sitting ducks down here," Luke stated.

"Yes, we'd best hurry if we're to take back the Tartarus," Jade agreed. "It won't be easy, but we should be able to handle the ligers."

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, and Luke instinctively drew his blade, a shiny new cutlass that they had found in the Liger Queen's clearing, and held it in front of him while charging a white ball of energy in his right hand. "Someone's coming," Luke said softly as the others readied their weapons.

Just as the words escaped his lips, the towering form of Largo the Black Lion entered the hallway, accompanied by two Oracle Knights. A wide grin spread across his face as he noticed the group.

"What're you smiling about? Demon Fist!" Luke cried out, loosing a shockwave of energy that crawled along the ground towards the gigantic man. Largo cocked an eyebrow and swiped the blast to the side with his massive scythe.

"Was that supposed to accomplish anything?" he questioned before he and his subordinates were blasted by Jade's modified Thunder Blade.

"I'll settle for distraction," Luke commented with a grin. "Now just stay down so we don't have to kill you."

"I think not," came Largo's reply. He pulled himself back to his feet and pointed his scythe toward the group. "That was quite an impressive attack, Colonel Jade Curtiss. Or, should I say, Jade the Necromancer."

"Jade the Necromancer?" Tear repeated, eyes wide. "You…?"

"Well, well, it seems I'm famous," Jade answered happily as he took a step forward.

"Everyone's heard the rumors of how you scavenge corpses after battles," Largo continued.

"But my rumors hold nothing against the stories of you," Jade replied. "Largo the Black Lion. One of the Oracle Knights' Six God Generals."

"I have been waiting to cross blades with you for some time," Largo stated. "However, right now I have come to retrieve the Fon Master."

"This is it, Mieu. Get ready," Luke whispered, crouching down and picking Mieu up in his free hand.

"I can't let you do that," Jade said defiantly, reaching a hand up to adjust his glasses while staring the God General down.

"Hmph. It looks like I have no choice." Largo pulled out a small cube from a satchel tied to his waist. "Letting you go now will only lead to trouble later. I had brought this along to seal the Fon Master's Daathic Fonic Artes. I didn't expect to wind up using it like this."

"I don't think so!" Luke cried out. "Combination Attack! Mieu Bullet!" Just as he had done back at the Cheagle Woods, Luke detonated a condensed ball of fonons, sending Mieu's tiny form hurtling at the God General at high speeds.

Largo, caught off guard, could only watch as Mieu headbutted the Fon Slot Seal out of his grasp and bounced off, landing on the floor with a small thud. "What the-"

Largo stopped midsentence and turned to see Jade standing before him, spear lodged deep in his chest. "Well, that was easier than expected," he stated before absorbing the weapon back into his arm. "Luke, I'll have you explain your fantastic reflexes later on, but for now we take the bridge. Anise, you go find Ion. We'll meet up later at that place."

"Roger, colonel!" the girl said happily before dashing away.

"Are you two ready?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, no problem," Luke said as he retrieved and pocketed the Fon Slot Seal. "And this little baby's gonna make a nice present for Van."

The three of them made their way to the top of the landship, quickly cutting through both liger and griffin as they headed to the bridge. "Man, not letting him get hit by that seal worked out really, really well."

(You know, that was a nice use of cheagle back there,) Asch commented.

"Don't start being nice now," Luke said, scratching his head.

(Look, replica, I'm not getting buddy-buddy with you,) Asch stated. (I was just saying, you launching that cheagle like that is pretty funny.)

"Oh, so you're just being a jerk, then," Luke replied.

"Luke, what are you doing?" Jade asked in his usual smug tone. "Don't tell me you have a habit of talking to yourself."

"No, I don't," he said. "Man, I'm getting so tired of this."

"Anyways, Tear and I will reclaim the bridge," Jade continued. "You stay out here and keep watch."

"Yeah, gotcha," Luke said, giving a fake salute as the two soldiers entered the Tartarus.

(Hey, isn't this the part where I ambush you guys?) Asch asked.

"Yeah, wait till you see what I do to you," Luke answered, laughing. "I'm thinking a quick hyperresonance will shut you up nicely."

(Which reminds me, why haven't you been using that? You're still able to control it, right?)

"Yeah, but Jade's already suspicious of me. I'm rushing things along, but he'll just start asking questions that I don't want to answer."

"Are you ready to die, you reject?" Asch's voice asked from above and behind Luke. Luke spun around and swung his sword, deflecting a large chunk of ice from Asch's Icicle Rain arte. Asch landed in front of Luke, Maestro Sword drawn and pointed directly at him. "I underestimated you. I figured that arte would've been more than enough for garbage like you."

"Keep talking," Luke goaded with a grin as he unsheathed his sword. "I've got a hyperresonance with your name on it, buddy."

(Don't you dare, replica!) Asch yelled in his mind.

The other Asch rushed forward and swung his sword downward, and it clashed against Luke's cutlass as he raised it to block. Luke's grin faded as his and Asch's Seventh Fonons resonated, and suddenly, Luke's mind felt a whole lot…emptier.

Asch took a step back and looked down at his hands, then locked eyes with his replica. He drew back his fist and punched, connecting it with Luke's jaw. "That's for being annoying," he stated. "But, now that I'm back in my own body, things are going to go differently. Give me the Fon Slot Seal."

"Wait, what just happened?" Luke asked from the floor, cradling his injured jaw in his hand.

"Didn't you hear me?" Asch asked angrily. "I'm back in my body! Now give me the Fon Slot Seal so I can go finish Van myself this time!"

Luke looked up at Asch for a moment before shrugging and pulling himself to his feet. "Whatever, have fun with it," he muttered, handing the cube over to his irate original. "Now I can just go back home and not worry about any slaughters weighing on my conscience."

"Yeah, yeah, and I can not die," Asch said with a grin. "Thankfully, this is the last time we'll see each other, dreck."

"You won't be missed."

The door to the bridge opened suddenly, and Jade and Tear rushed to Luke's side, weapons held ready. "Luke, what happened?" Tear asked.

"Don't worry about it," Luke answered before looking back at Asch. "So, what, are you gonna give the order to withdraw?"

"I don't know how good it'll do," Asch stated. "Legretta was the one in charge of this operation, but she'd be off at the Sephiroth with Ion now."

"So we wait and take care of her when she gets back," Luke said.

"Do what you want," Asch said. He planted his finger and thumb in his mouth and whistled. Moments later, a griffin swooped down and grabbed him before soaring off.

A few moments passed by in silence before Luke felt a familiar presence in his head. (Wait, what the hell?) Asch's voice echoed. (Why the hell am I back in here?)

Luke frowned as well, and muttered, "God damn it."


End file.
